


Secondhand Leonhardt

by thejapanesemapletree



Category: Secondhand Lions (2003), Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Crack Relationships, Cute, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Male Hange Zoë, Minor Character(s), One-Sided Reiner/Historia, One-Sided Relationship, Secondhand Lions, World War I, lion
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-09
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-02-24 16:37:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2588651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thejapanesemapletree/pseuds/thejapanesemapletree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Secondhand Lions AU: For the last few weeks of school, Annie's mother has dropped her off to stay with her two great-uncles, Reiner and Bertholdt. It should not be any different from the other places she has left her. But none of the other places have given her a pet lioness. This time might be an adventure for the young girl.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Anastasia Maria Leonhardt

**Anastasia Maria Leonhardt**

"Annie…"

"Annie."

"Anastasia! Anastasia Maria Leonhardt!"

The girl looked away from the changing scenery of the car window, meeting the cool eyes of her mother. The iron-colored irises were knitted by thick eyebrows and folded skin, scowling. They looked back to the road ahead.

"Are you listening now, Annie?" She asked sternly, returning to the hypocorism her daughter preferred.

"Yes, Mother." Annie replied tonelessly, although not disrespectfully.

Her mother motioned beside her with a gloved hand, bidding her daughter to move forward. Annie stepped into the front seat with a single fluid motion. Her mother fiddled with the radio and tuned down the patchy music coming through.

"You are spending the rest of the school year with your two uncles." She announced without animation. "Just for the last couple of weeks, I promise. I will come and get you before summer starts."

"That is what you said the last time." Annie said with the edge of a bite. "When you left me at that Girl Scout camp. And the time with the convent. And the time before that…"

"Watch your mouth, young lady." She warned. "There is no need to get saucy. You need to learn to trust people or you are going to grow up bitter and disappointed."

 _I am already bitter and disappointed_ , Annie thought, but said nothing, staring at the window. She could see her face in the reflection of the glass pane. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear.

"Where are you going now?" Annie asked after she simmered.

"The Trost City School of Court Reporting. The guy I met last night said he could pull some strings." She then sighed, wistful. "Judges, lawyers, policemen… An array of good husband material."

"And criminals," Annie added. "Don't forget criminals."

"Your tongue is going to get you in trouble one day." Her mother said icily. She then checked her beehive in the rearview mirror, plumping it with her free hand, oblivious of the road. Annie spotted a silver hair nestled among its ash blonde brethren.

"You are going to have fun with your uncles, Annie. You'll see."

"Mother, you are an only child. How could they be my uncles?"

" _Well_ ," She said, stopping her unnecessary preening to shoot her daughter an irritated look. "In fact, they are your uncles. Your great-uncles. My mother's brothers."

Annie nodded once, satisfied.

"I still do not understand why I cannot come with you."

"Because I am going to be working day and night to learn court reporting!" She said, raising her voice slightly. "Annie, I am trying so hard to keep this family together and you are not making it any easier. How about a little help, hum?"

The girl mumbled, slinking back in her seat. Her mother sighed in exasperation.

"Look, Annie… You can at least _try_ to make the best out of this. They say these two have millions stashed away. They disappeared for forty years and just now turned back up in Texas. They do not have any kids, no one to leave their money to… We're the closest family they got."

Annie got a sour taste in her mouth.

"You want them to like me so they'll die and leave us their money?"

Her mother made a nonchalant motion with her shoulders.

"Why not? We could finally settle down, buy a house…"

Annie hummed at that.

"But, Annie…" Her mother said in a more serious tone. "You need to watch out for other relatives. They're a bunch of crooks and thieves and backstabbers…" Her lips twitched in a grimace.

"I am sure I can handle them." Annie said without any inclination of doubt in her voice. "Dad taught me how to take care of myself."

Her mother scowled once again.

They traveled silently down the backwater road for a long while, kicking up dust in their wake. Annie watched the world move by in spite of her from the window and rubbed the hem of her dress with her fingers. She was surprised when her mother turned abruptly, the car skidding down a gravel driveway.

The first thing Annie noticed were the signs. They were set at certain intervals, speaking things such as **Turn Back Now!** and **Go Away or Else!** and, her favorite, **Warning: Rabid Attack Dogs.**

"I do not think they will appreciate our company." Annie said, her mother more optimistic.

"I am sure it will be fine. Look, there it is."

An ancient house waited in the distance. The wood upon it was weathered and fraying, the windows smoky with dust and warped with age. The tower of the house loomed a shadow over the porch. Chickens pecking at the barren earth mulled around a rusting truck, clucking with conversation.

Annie's mother stalled her car beside the old truck. She checked her hair again before exiting, parasol in hand.

"Come on, Annie, don't loiter around."

The rabid attack dogs met her as she exited the car. The baying bloodhound, the howling Labrador, the wailing schnauzer, and the yipping bulldog charged her together. The pack circled her while barking their complaints, the bulldog nipping at her heels. She walked forward and through the ring of dogs fearlessly, leaving the canines confused.

A snorting pig suddenly appeared and joined the gathering. Annie observed how he mingled with the dogs, squealing softly as his bark.

"Are you part of the pack too?" She asked.

A gunshot sounded and the pack took off before an answer could be given. A cry of happiness carried from the lake.

"They must be down by that lake." Her mother said, fixing her parasol. "Come on, Annie."

The trek through the meadow was not easy on her mother's heels. She stumbled and made jerking steps as she walked. Gunshots and whoops accompanied them down to the lakebed, two outlines protruding from the water. Upon closer inspection, Annie could distinguish two men with shotguns firing into the water, yelling a bunch of nonsense.

"Where did he go?"

"Ah, Reiner! Between your feet!" Two gunshots.

"I wounded him! He's running for it!" Another gunshot.

"Reiner…"

A dead click.

"Damn, empty! Bertholdt, you go get ammo, I'll cover him!"

"Hello!" Annie's mother called out, startling the two men. The blond man glanced at the taller one suspiciously, eyes narrow.

"Did you send for a hooker?"

Annie coughed on a snicker.

"R-Reiner!" The other cried in despair, a blush covering his dark cheeks. "Reiner, no…"

"Uncle Reiner, Uncle Bertholdt, it's me, Rico." She continued. "Your niece. Maria's daughter. And I brought Annie, your great-niece."

Annie offered a wave.

A disgusted look pinched Reiner's face.

" _Relatives_."

.

Face to face, Annie decided both elderly men were quite handsome, in their own way. Reiner was heavily muscled despite his age with a barreled chest and thick arms. The wrinkles complimented his golden eyes and his blond-near-white hair was a pretty shade. Bertholdt retained a healthy natural coloring to his skin and dark, grey-speckled hair. His eyes drooped with charming wrinkles.

"Goddamnit, we're old! Leave us alone!" Reiner flung off his boots by the porch door as he spoke. "We do not need a little girl hanging around us all the time!"

"Reiner, try to be more understanding…" Bertholdt tried to soothe as his brother swung the screen door shut.

Rico huffed and flushed her parasol closed. "Annie, why don't you stay out here for a minute?"

She followed the men inside and left Annie standing alone. The girl looked out across the farmland, waiting.

"She can help out! Do chores! She will be at school most of the time anyway!" Her mother tried to reason, her voice forceful.

"How could she help out? She is just a little girl!" Reiner counteracted.

"She can do something, I am sure." Rico argued. "Annie is not a sissy, I assure you. You can teach her!"

The pig reappeared to greet Annie. The girl tussled his ears and he grunted in pleasure, bumping against her hand.

"Go play with your friends…" She suggested as the hounds came around the house, the pig running to follow behind. Annie dusted off a step and sat upon it.

In the end, (and much to the kindheartedness of Bertholdt), Annie was allowed to stay.

Annie gathered her bag from the car and went around to the driver's seat, her mother starting the engine.

"This will be a good experience for you, Annie, you'll see." Her mother said. She then showed one of her rare smiles. "Finding the money can be just like finding buried treasure! You like books about that, don't you?"

Annie shrugged.

Her mother sighed. "You can try being a little more positive, for one. Maybe you can smile a little more. More people might like you if you do."

Annie got an odd look on her face. Her upper lip twitched and her mouth curled into a crooked, grimacing grin. Her mother looked appalled.

"… You are going to have to work on that." She said when Annie's face fell. Annie said nothing.

Rico blew her daughter a kiss and set off in her convertible, leaving Annie in her floral dress and pigtails. The howling pack of dogs tailed the car down the long driveway. The girl paused for a moment, eventually turning to look at her uncle's upon the porch.

"… Well." Bertholdt said, clearing his throat. "Lets eat supper, shall we?"

.

Supper was positively revolting. It was fish full of lead pellets which Annie had to spit into a bowl less she be poisoned, with greasy sausage and half-cooked eggs. She did not voice her abhorrence, however, keeping her dissatisfaction to herself.

"We raise our own pigs." Bertholdt said as Annie nibbled on her sausage, gifting a gentle smile.

Annie hummed as a response. She saw the pig and pack of dogs spying into the windows, the hog unaffected by the people eating the meat of his kind. Annie nudged the link off her fork.

"I do not like pork very much."

Bertholdt and Reiner looked at one another, having a silent understanding, Reiner shaking his head.

The rest of the meal was quiet.

.

Annie soon learned that old Texan men who boycott televisions and telephones do not have much to do. A popular past time for her uncles happened to be sitting on the porch and sipping iced tea, enjoying the light and air. The only activity was when a lone car and salesman pulled up, Reiner thinking it a fun sport to fire his gun above the poor soul's head and sending him fleeing like a startled rabbit. Annie thought it quite entertaining herself.

The first time she saw it happen was when a pink vehicle pulled before the house. She knew something was off when she heard the cock of a loaded gun. The car stopped shortly, a man beaming with an overly-bright smile exiting the car.

"Gentlemen!" He greeted as he walked around the car. "It is known far and wide that you are two sophisticated men of means. However, I am sure you worry about the future. That is why my insurance company…"

The shotgun mounted against Reiner's shoulder fired. The man yelped, ducked, and scrambled back into his car faster than Annie's eyes could follow. Bertholdt's sympathetic gaze watched the car as it nearly flipped with its haste, blazing down the driveway. Annie hid her face in her knees as her lips tugged upwards.

Not long after that, another car appeared. It followed a similar routine with the grinning salesman getting out of his car, making a pitch.

"Rumor has it that you have millions in cash stashed away! Why not have that money returned by investing in gold and silver?"

The gun was shot again. The salesman dropped behind his car fearfully. He held up a booklet in his shaking hand.

"Can I at least interest you in a pamphlet?"

The paper was shredded by the bullet that whizzed through it. Bertholdt turned to Reiner as the salesman hightailed away in his car, expression disapproving.

"That was a little too close, Reiner."

Annie smiled into her knees again.

.

Annie leaned into the stairwell, her lantern held forward. The stairs were dusty with misuse and the railing was rotting away. She looked back to her uncle's patiently.

"You have the tower all to yourself." Bertholdt said with a stiff smile.

"I like it."

"Good." Reiner said with a dismissive expression. "Because it's all we got. Look, we don't know nothing about kids, so if you need something, find it yourself. Or go without."

"I am sure I can manage." Annie assured.

Bertholdt and Reiner looked at each other once again. They hesitated until Annie ascended the steps to speak in low tones.

"I think she is a nice young girl." Bertholdt said. "Not troublesome at all."

"Better than our other relatives, at least." Reiner said stand-offishly. Bertholdt shook his head and sighed.

The tower was stuffed with junk. Annie clambered around leather chests and trunks, finally making it to the bed. She plopped her own baggage on the duvet.

After wrestling her hair from her two ponytails, Annie decided to pry, examining the various cases. Some contained old clothing boxes, others books and moth-eaten linen, nothing very interesting. The most eye-catching trunk, the one dotted with travel stickers, was the only locked one. Undeterred, Annie yanked at the heavy padlock, only proving its effectiveness at holding fast. Sorrowed and frustrated, Annie kicked at her bedpost. The crowing atop the pole wobbled minutely. Annie investigated the unbalanced knob with a curious eye. She found that it detached with a twist, a key raining onto the floor. The girl did the logical thing and fitted it into the padlock. It turned.

Free of the lock, the lid raised. It reveled that its insides were coated with sand.

"Sand…?" Annie questioned, dipping her fingers into the grains. The trunk smelled of dry leather and stale perfume, causing Annie to wrinkle her nose. She shifted around some of the sand to check for artifacts.

When her nails scrapped wood she began to dig. She soon found a picture frame. Inside the wooden frame was an aged photo. Annie lifted up the article to get a better look, eyes narrow.

The photo was of a woman. It was very old and faded, the paper tea-colored. The woman had her head turned towards the camera, a smile on her lips. She was very pretty and youthful with a round face and wide, light eyes. Her hair was long and of a soft hue, everything about her petite and wonderful. Annie raised an eyebrow.

She nearly dropped the picture when she heard the door slam. Placing the photo safely atop her suitcase, she rushed to the window, peering out. There, in the light of the white moon, was Reiner, broomstick raised in attack. He was running into battle with the wooden sweeper. Annie hurried to chase after him.

Annie found herself by the lake. She looked through the darkness, searching for her uncle. It was not until he cried out behind her and she jumped out of his way that she discovered him.

Reiner began an intense battle with the lake. He parried, thrusted, and began a brutal overhead swinging. The water splashed and showered about the man fighting the water. Annie sat below a tree and watched this display. She thought it funny, for the man looked like a ghost in his nightgown. The dogs came to join her, entertained by the sleep-walking man as well. Annie tilted her head, trying to imagine what the man saw in his dream. Perhaps soldiers crying with the thirst for battle and thudding hoof beats, perhaps the men he killed with his ruthless sword, perhaps something else entirely.

She asked the dogs and they had no answer.


	2. Shinganshina County Local Schools

**Shinganshina County Local Schools**

_"Anastasia, lift your hands! Protect your face!"_

_"Swing your leg lower, Anastasia!"_

_"Perfect form! Do it again."_

_"You must do better tomorrow, Nastya_."

_._

Annie awoke with her face in the dirt. The dogs surrounded her snuggly, warming her sides. Her neck was cold and wet with dew and her damp hair clung to the sides of her face. She lifted herself up, viewing no one but herself and the dogs in the dull light of early day. The dogs and pig stood as she did, traveling behind as she walked back to the house. The rooster crowed atop the porch.

Bertholdt was already busy at the kitchen table, pen in hand as he sorted through mail. Annie dusted off her dress before she entered.

"I worried that you had run away." He said when the girl sat herself across from him at the table.

"I do not have much anywhere to run away to." She replied, causing the man to laugh a light, silvery laugh.

Annie plucked a thick paper card from the table, skimming over the print. It was nothing special, just an advertisement for a jewelry business. A box on the backside was checked with black ink. Annie raised an eyebrow, showing the card to Bertholdt.

"You send mail to salesmen so they'll come and Reiner can shoot at them?"

Bertholdt put a finger to his lips, signaling Annie to secrecy. "Don't tell Reiner. It will take all the fun out of it for him."

Annie placed the card in a pile with the others. "I suppose every man needs a hobby…"

All the requests were sent out to the mailbox before Reiner could notice them. Bertholdt began a breakfast of stirred eggs and bubbling sausage, cooking them in a single iron skillet. Annie waited quietly for her eggs, watching the dogs and pig run along the farmyard.

Reiner entered after a little while, grumbling, rubbing his shoulders irritably.

"Even with a new mattress, I'm still waking up tired and sore." He fussed, sitting with Annie at the table. The girl glanced at Bertholdt smiling knowingly.

The food was given in plateful portions. Annie was perplexed when her uncle skipped over her with the sausage, instead giving her a wilted green vegetable.

"You said you do not like pork…" He began timidly. "So I made you kale instead. Is that okay?"

"… Yes, thank you."

Pleased, the man joined the group at the table. Annie tried the tender kale, finding it bitter and tasteful. She consumed a few forkfuls before looking around the table, interest piqued.

"My mom said you two disappeared for forty years. Where did you go?"

Bertholdt finished chewing his eggs, thoughtful.

"Africa, mostly. Northern Africa: Morocco, Algeria… Kenya and Nigeria too."

"But that was when we were younger." Reiner added tartly. "We are just old Texans now."

"I bet it was quite the adventure." The girl replied. "Journeying through the Sahara and amongst the natives."

"Oh, yes, journeys they were." Reiner said with a warning inclination, Bertholdt shaking his head at his brother. Annie was unaffected. "Journeys and days that are over now. Those times are over just like we are."

"A-Annie!" Bertholdt interjected, diverting the subject swiftly. Sweat was beginning to gather at his temples. "You better finish your breakfast! We need to hurry and go to enroll you in school!"

"… Okay."

Annie dined in silence, watching Reiner with cynical eyes all the while.

.

The out-dated truck hopped along the road like a rolling, warped barrel. Annie had her hair in a neat French twist and collared dress cleanly pressed, her small form packed between her two uncles. Bertholdt smiled down at her kindly, not the one concentrating on driving.

"Do you like school, Annie?" He asked sincerely. "Do you do well in it?"

"Not really." She replied frankly to both questions. "School never teaches you anything worth knowing. And its does not matter whether I do well or not because I move around so often. In the end, it is meaningless."

"… Y-You shouldn't think of it that way…" Bertholdt encouraged with a faulty nervous twang, and Annie snubbed him, turning her head away.

"That is why so many people drop out around here." Reiner said, making a turn at a crossroad. "Because the lot of what they learn is pointless. They all are going to be farmers, or are hoping to be farmers. Even the owners of the oil companies do not live out here. Everyone does as everyone else: farms."

"… Is there so much shame in doing as everyone else?" Annie asked. "In going with the flow? In being… normal? Perhaps it is not them to be blamed. Maybe no one will listen to them if they have dreams. They do as expected of them because they must."

Reiner gave his great-niece a baffled look, quick, but prominent.

"How _old_ are you?"

"I turned twelve on the 22nd."

"Jesus…"

"Reiner! You mustn't curse around children…"

Annie sighed.

.

The school was an old brick edifice, long past its heyday, the door hinges rusting and the windows glued shut against the drafts. The truck drove along the asphalt parking lot brimmed with cracks and dry weeds. Reiner slipped between two other cars to park.

The inside of the school was not much better with chipped paint and corrosion outlining the edges of the floor. The hallways were eerie and quiet without the presence of the children in the morning, the adults shut up in their respective classrooms. Annie could swear she saw eyes every time her and her uncle's passed a classroom.

The main office was slightly less disheveled. The carpet was worn, though clean, and everything was organized properly. The wooden desk of the secretary was polished to shine and the chairs did not squeak or collapse when sat upon. The secretary looked with surprise when the trio entered. Her brunette hair was pulled up tightly against her head, her mascara lush and pretty upon her lashes. Her lips were the color of pearls and skin the color of eggshells. Annie glanced quickly for her nameplate, finding it to read **Anka Rheinberger**.

"…Annie Leonhardt?" She asked after a moment, and Annie nodded to her name, confirming with a "Yes.".

"Your mother called yesterday…" She continued. Bertholdt offered an upturning of the lips. Even with the fan whirling cool air though the room he was sweating, his face bright with the liquid. Reiner said nothing, his arms crossed over his wide chest. Annie inclined her head, thinking that rather responsible of her mother.

Anka stood then, smoothing out her skirt. "I will fetch Principle Pixis to give you a tour. One moment, please." She disappeared into the back alcove. Annie and her uncles stood awkwardly in waiting.

"… She was staring _at_ us. Why is that?" Annie asked, facing her uncles. Bertholdt rubbed his dark hair, quietly staring at the floor. Reiner met his niece's gaze, vexation twitching at his mouth.

"Because we are the Boo Radley of Shinganshina County." He spoke with a sharpness. "The amount of rumors told about us are enough to keep the quilting circles busy for a full afternoon. We are mysterious, untrustworthy, hardly seen outside our home. We are… different."

"Ah." Annie concluded in understanding. She turned as she heard the creaking of a door. Anka returned, Principle Pixis in tow. The elderly man smiled when he saw the girl, his mustache quirking. He bowed in a civil way, his bare head shining as he dipped. When he rose, Annie could see his bronze eyes were filled with light.

"Hello, Miss Leonhardt!" He greeted formally. He extended his hand and Annie took it into a firm shake, causing the man to laugh. "What fierceness! More like a man than a girl."

Annie scoffed.

The principle shared a handshake with the other two men and addressed them just as kindly. Bertholdt was nervous with the stranger, his grip sloppy, while Reiner was just a forward as Annie. Annie sighed at his abrasive nature.

"Come, come, let the tour commence!" Principle Pixis invited, motioning with his hand. "Good sirs, you may come if you like, but I only need Miss Leonhardt."

Annie looked to her uncles, waiting for a decision. They first looked at her, then at each other, a worried look coming into Bertholdt's eyes. Reiner cleared his throat.

"I think we will go with her…"

Annie had to smooth over her smile.

.

The tour was dreadfully boring, even with Pixis' enthusiasm. The school was easy to navigate due to its size and elementary essentiality. A brief history of the populating and development of the town was given, beginning with the iron-mining roots and ending in the present day. Annie heard the expectations of the school and that her schedule would be prepared for her on Monday before she left, once again wedged between the two men in the truck. They departed before the first school bus pulled in.

The activity at home was not much better. Annie was told to put on some boots and given a hoe. She, along with Reiner and Bertholdt, began tilling the earth, turning up the soil for a garden. The swinging of the tool was repetitive and boring, the exertion making Annie's shoulders sore. She did not mind much, however, worse exhaustion and pain once well-known to her.

"I hate this!" Reiner said to his brother. The dogs and pig came to watch the display, heads cocked.

"Be a little more positive, Reiner!" He encouraged. "If we garden, we get vegetables, and vegetables are good for you. You can live to be a hundred, even."

"Why would I want to live to be a hundred?"

"For the sake of saying you did." Annie said, receiving an unhappy look from her uncle. She upturned her nose.

A sudden car horn made her jump. She heard the rolling of the car up the driveway, the music filtering through the open windows. The pack of dogs made a whimpering sound and scurried off, the pig tromping behind. Reiner threw down his hoe violently and spat.

" _Relatives_."

A fat man bumbled from the car. His hair was pitifully thin and golden in color, curled facial hair resting on his round cheeks. He smiled at the men in the garden, opening up his arms in greeting.

"Uncle Reiner, Uncle Bertholdt! Long time no see!" His smile dropped as Reiner stormed passed him, slamming the door as he entered the house, leaving Bertholdt and Annie alone with the man.

The wife and children climbed from the car. The mother was fairy young and attractive, more-so cute, with big blue eyes and ruddy hair squared at her jaw line. The female child was the older one and had inherited her mother's brown hair, hers long and up in a ponytail, eyes large and hazel and full of happiness. The little boy was younger and had blond hair with a military cut and mischievous, grey eyes. A grin showed his teeth.

Annie looked to her remaining uncle in question, only to see his profound sadness. His eyes were slick with unshed tears and throat jumping with his suffering. He dropped his head, eyes torn from looking after his brother. He began to walk.

"Sasha, Connie, say hi to Uncle Bertholdt!" The father ordered, his children parroting him with zeal. "We know how lonely our favorite uncles get, so we are here for a nice long visit. The whole weekend!"

Bertholdt did not look up as he passed his family, quiet as he moved, and quiet as he entered the house. The man was left in puzzlement.

Annie left her hoe to follow her clearly distressed uncle, only to be stopped, the critical eyes of the man finding her. She could see his unfriendliness.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Balto!" His wife chided softly. "Please, not in front of the children…"

The man huffed, correcting himself. "Fine, Nifa: Who are you?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Annie said with an arctic coldness. Balto's cheeks became blushed with anger, his face rolling up in harsh lines. Annie's dark glare did not change.

"How _rude_." He commented.

His wife came to his rescue. Nifa looked the girl up and down, finding a name to her face.

"You are Annie, aren't you?" She asked more politely than her husband. "Rico's daughter?"

"I am."

"I figured _she_ tried to muscle in." Balto said bitterly. "That window women, always running around…"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Annie challenged. Her hands clenched into fists, enraged on the behalf of her mother. "What are you trying to say?"

"Oh, nothing." He said, waving his hand in a careless circle. "Is your mother here?"

"No."

"How long are you here?"

"That is none of _your_ concern."

"… We'll just see about that."

The man lumbered off, his wife alongside him, begging him not to be so harsh. Annie seethed silently as they departed, her hands relaxing.

The children came up to her after their parents left. The girl approached her first, smile bright, the hem of her dress in both hands.

"My name is Sasha!" She provided. "And this is my brother Connie. You are Annie, right?"

"… I am." Annie said as the boy peered around his sister, her voice touching upon tenderness. Connie gave her his infamous grin, lightening her heart, and lifting her lips slightly.

"How old are you?" Sasha asked. "I am in second grade!"

"And I'm in kindergarten!" Connie said with fervor.

"I am still twelve, still in sixth grade." Annie replied, causing the children to gasp at her seniority. She sighed, although not in exasperation.

"Dogs!" Connie shouted abruptly, pointing to the pack creeping back into the vicinity. And like that the two were off, making themselves part of the pack with barks and howls. They dashed after as the animals made a run for it, keeping pace with the pig. Annie wiped her boots before entering the house.

"Her mother is going to be back before long." Was the first thing Annie heard as she moved into the hallway, peeking around the threshold of the kitchen. Reiner had his full form puffed up and arms displayed across his chest. He was having a tense conversation with Balto, the man fired up and red in the face. Nifa held him back by his arm, trying to pacify him, her eyes sad and regretful. Bertholdt looked much the same way: his skin pale, eyes glassy, body hunched and trembling ever so marginally. He looked sick, sick with grief. Annie touched a place on her chest. It hurt.

" _That_ woman?" Balto sneered. "I doubt she'll ever come back. Then you're stuck with her kid!"

"You shouldn't say such things!" Nifa gasped, the noise pained. "Balto, Balto, _please_ …"

The man took a breath, putting himself in a better temper and tone. "I am telling you, you need to take her to the orphanage."

" _No!_ " Bertholdt cried. He shot up to his normal height, that being his way of lashing out. Annie had never seen her uncle so fearful, so passionately agitated about something. All of him was shaking, the quaking clear in his voice. "N-No, no, _no_ , we _can't_. N-Not the orphanage, no… _There is no hope there._ " He then covered his face and began to sob, softly, though the pain was palpable. Reiner put a loving hand on his brother's shoulder.

"What we do with Annie is none of your business." He said with an icy glare. "She is our responsibility, not yours."

Balto did not show any signs of sobering. He only leaned back with a throaty growl. The movement must have made him detect Annie in the corner of his eye because he looked over, spotting the girl.

"There she is! _Spying_!"

The next thing Annie knew he had shaken from his wife's hold and was making to grab her, his large hand squeezing her shoulder hard enough to bruise. The girl panicked, she reacted, she did as she was taught and what she thought was needed. Annie ripped the hand from her shoulder and twisted it, the man yelping at her action. She fixed her hold as she lifted her leg. She dipped and swung out, battering the man in his knees. Balto fell with the motion, crashing onto his backside, the house shaking with the impact, Annie running as soon as he hit the ground. The girl flung the door open and did not look back as she raced down the driveway.

.

"Hello, Trost City School of Court Reporting."

"Yes, I need to speak with my mother, she is a student there."

"I am sorry, we're closed for today."

"It is an emergency." Annie tried to enforce the idea by putting distressed emotion in her voice. "Please. Her name is Rico Brzenska."

There was a pause as the receptionist looked through the directory. "… I'm sorry, there is no Rico Brzenska here."

Annie scowled. "Try Rico Woerman."

"… No, sorry…"

"Rico Dietrich? Rico Jarnach? Rico _Leonhardt?_ "

"Miss, are you in some sort of trouble?"

"How can she not be there?" She avoided the question with her frustration. "She just started."

"Miss…" The receptionist began delicately. "Our classes started in December. No one could have possibly just started."

" _Damn it_." Annie whispered her curse.

"Hello? Miss? Do you need help? _Miss_?"

Annie hung the telephone upon the peg. She sat down on a log in front of the gas station, staring at her hands distantly.

.

"Oh, my head, my head…"

" _Shut up!_ " Reiner ordered, his glacial look received via the rearview mirror to the backseat. Balto shivered.

The search for Annie had begun as soon as she left, her uncles and Balto loading up into the man's Buick. The night had come quickly and harshly, the moon overshadowed.

Bertholdt hugged his knees to himself, his size uncomfortable in the front seat. He had cooled for Annie's sake and now sat looking for her, fingers picking at a loose fiber of his pants.

"I do not understand why you get to drive my car…" Balto mumbled, shifting the deer steak on his head. "Oh, when I find that kid…"

"Reiner!" Bertholdt gasped, jolting forward suddenly. He saw the blonde hair in the light of the gas station street lamp, the girl herself looking into her lap. "Reiner, there she is!"

The car swerved to a halt. Annie spared the vehicle an apathetic glance, her eyes returning to the paper in her lap.

"Stay in the car." Reiner told Balto as he moved towards the door. He was about to argue, but froze when Bertholdt glowered at him, the man who was never mean finding a reason to be. Balto clammed up and returned to the center.

Annie did not react when her uncles joined her on the log. She continued to study her map, lips pressed. Reiner looked down at the area code map.

"Planning your next move?" Reiner inquired, and Annie nodded, still fixed to her paper.

"Where do you plan on going?" Bertholdt asked.

Annie pointed to an upper area of the map, indicating the 406 area code. "Montana. I want to go where there is no one else. To 'Big Sky Country'."

"… Why are you not going to Trost City where your mom is?"

Annie got a terrible look on her face. She snarled through her nose, her hold almost tearing her paper.

"She is not there. She lied. _Again_."

The brothers looked at each other sympathetically. They then returned their attention to their niece, Bertholdt swallowing thickly.

"Do… You have a father somewhere?" He asked.

"I do." Annie replied with not nearly as much ferociousness as before. "He left a couple years ago. Mother tells most people he died. But in reality, he moved away, back to his home country. He moved back to Russia."

Bertholdt made a surprised noise. He and his brother looked at one another again, speaking without words.

"You two can quit eye-fucking each other like I don't know what you're saying." Annie told them. "Yes, I know he was Red, Red as they come. Why do you think he moved away? Why do you think my mother says he _died_?" The girl drew up her knees, burrowing her face into her paper. A gentle shaking of her entire being began, tears welling in her eyes.

"He loved us, you know." The girl choked. "He loved _me_. He was the one who taught me how to fight, the one that taught me to _endure_ … Uncle Reiner, Uncle Bertholdt, I've been to the orphan home before… I don't want to go back. There is no hope there. _There is no love there_."

The arm on her back was long and warm, and it quelled her, at least a little. Annie raised her streaked face, looking at her uncle Bertholdt in question. It was then she noticed he was weeping himself, his cheeks outlined in water. His voice was strained.

"Annie, dear, _I know_. There is no hope, no _love_ , in a place where children are void of it. There is heartache, there is violence, there is suffering, because that is all they know. _They do as expected of them because they must._ "

Annie chilled at seeing her uncle's state. She rubbed away her tears, her smooth nature returning.

"Uncle Bertholdt, are you adopted?" She asked, and he nodded, scrubbing at his own eyes. He took a shallow breath.

"I am. I am a little Greek boy made part of the Braun family." The statement made Reiner chuckle deep in his chest.

"I wouldn't call you 'little', Uncle Bertholdt." And they all laughed, in their own ways, with Reiner and his loud boom and Bertholdt with his uneasy twittering and Annie with her huffing chortle. Annie smiled, and it was beautiful, something to be proud of.

A honking horn sent the trio hopping. Annie glared at the car, Balto flinging himself out of the front, hiding within the shadows of the backseat. Annie sighed, standing and brushing off her skirt. She did not like the look of it with her garden boots.

"I know you would like to go to Montana…" Reiner said, joining his niece in standing. "But it is late, you know." He then laughed again, holding his stomach. "And you sure piss off the relatives! Why don't you do us a favor and stay for a while? Ruffle some feathers, maybe enough to get them to leave us alone…"

"Yes!" Bertholdt agreed, jumping up. "Won't you, Annie? Please?"

Annie hummed in thought. She looked down at the tear-splattered map in her hands, mulling over the idea. She then balled up the paper, throwing the object behind her.

"I guess I could stay a while. Seeing it is so important."

Reiner whooped and Bertholdt smiled joyfully. Annie felt as her two uncles each took an arm to lead her to the car, to the man cowering in the backseat. A twitch of a smile graced her lips.

Annie leaned into the men guiding her.


	3. Sheikha Historia Amatullah bint Ludhriq al-Reissue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I got Historia's name right! I decided to use the format ism+laqab+nasab+nisba, and it should mean 'Historia, Servant of God, daughter of Roderick, of the family Reiss'. Also, since I could not find an Arabic translation for Reiss I had to use the Urdu translation provided by hamariweb.com. But Urdu has some Arabic roots, right?

**Sheikha Historia Amatullah bint Ludhriq al-Reissue**

It was strange, at least to Annie, having a grown man with children much more problematic than her afraid of her presence. Balto would slink away whenever she was near, hiding his face, or venture off upon claims of other responsibilities. Annie was not bothered by this in any fashion, only finding his actions queer and slightly humorous. His wife Nifa, however, was very friendly towards the girl and made conversation with her. They spent the vespers period of Saturday together on the porch, one reading and another knitting, speaking whenever it interested them. Sasha and Connie spent most of their daylight hours running amongst the chickens and wildflowers, coming in when night fell to entertain themselves with Annie and indoor-appropriate games. Annie enjoyed their company as well.

It was the afternoon of the day of the family's departure when everyone came together on the porch. Reiner and Bertholdt had lived most of their weekend outdoors, away from the drama of the others. This day was different in the sense that they had something to look forward to. Reiner had first gotten the idea when he bought a carton of root beer. The plan was originally to have Annie drink the soda pop in front of the relatives in large and rude gulps, displeasing them with her unladylike belching afterwards. Annie commented upon this by informing them that soda, like many things, was too sugary for her taste. The modified plan then became to gift the drink to Sasha and Connie.

And so they sat that Sunday afternoon watching the hooligan children celebrate their sugar high by running and screaming and being overall embarrassing. Nifa was more upset with their behavior than angry, while Balto was absolutely livid. It was many minutes before they crawled up the stairs and crashed, panting, bodies spread across the floorboards. Annie peeked over her copy of _Frankenstein_.

The children took to lying across their mother's lap in their exhaustion, Nifa scolding them mildly and petting their heads. They did not mind much for her words and rested peacefully.

Annie narrowed her eyes, leaning into her book. "Isn't a chimera a monster in Greek mythology?"

Bertholdt motioned to see the text, finding the aforementioned word. He read the line carefully before handing the novel back.

"I think 'chimera' can also mean something that only exists in the imagination…" Was his answer, Annie nodding in satisfaction. She settled down once more and continued to read.

"We need to find you a dictionary if you are going to keep asking us what the words mean." Reiner said, shifting the gun on his lap. "Neither of us knew what the hell 'paroxysm' was."

Annie hummed as a response, engrossed in her reading. Balto propped himself up in his rocking chair, taking the sudden conversation as an invitation to start his own. He cleared his throat pointedly.

"Uncle Reiner, Uncle Bertholdt, this has been such a lovely weekend with you two…" Balto began, even Annie scoffing at his false sweetness. He continued: "I hate to bring this up, but… Did you look at the wills I sent you? At your age, you _do_ need to be thinking of these things… To be thinking of being prepared for the future."

Reiner spat over the railing of the porch. "You do not need to be worrying your little lawyer-head, we do not plan on dying any time soon."

Balto opened his mouth to counter-argue, but was interrupted by the sounding of a horn and the appearance of a car. Sasha and Connie startled when they heard the click of a gun. Annie looked away from her book and towards the baby blue convertible with an attached trailer.

The salesman was unorthodox. Instead of showing a cheery smile and walking around the car while highlighting his wares, he dove out of his car and landed behind the hood, safe from any bullets that might fly. Reiner bolted to his feet with his gun perched just as the salesman began to wave a white handkerchief.

"Don't shoot, don't shoot!" He pleaded while crouched. Reiner rumbled in his chest.

"He's been here before… _Damn_. Come out where we can see you!"

"We can talk when you put your gun down!"

"I like a challenge… I am going to sneak around."

"Reiner, no." Bertholdt warned. "You don't want to _actually_ shoot him!"

"Why not see what he is selling?"

Reiner looked down with surprise at his niece, the girl spinning around on the stair she claimed as a seat. "It looks fairly interesting, at least with the cover on."

"I think your uncles know better than to waste their money on salesmen." Balto interjected, receiving a look from Annie that made him shrivel. She glanced back to her uncle.

"Why do you have all that money if you are never going to spend it? It is no use to you after you die…"

Balto became red in the face. His wife tried to sooth with her touch, advising him not to increase his blood pressure. Reiner took notice of this and thought.

"You might have a point…" Reiner said. "I could see what he is selling. _Then_ I could shoot him."

Bertholdt released a breath of relief, sweat already coating his features. Annie marked her book and followed her uncles.

Gun tucked away on the porch, the salesman crept from behind his car. He was a thin man with brunette hair and spectacles. His suit bore a lively print that matched his hat, which he tipped with a grin.

"Mister Braun, Mister Hoover, you may call me Hanji!" The salesman introduced. "And after our terribly unfortunate last encounter I've taken it upon myself to find the _perfect_ item for you… And, well, I think I've found it."

"We'll see." Reiner replied, causing the salesman to laugh. Hanji whipped the cloak off the trailer with a brilliant display, revealing the object underneath.

"… A clay pigeon launcher?" Annie questioned, Hanji laughing again.

"More than that!" Hanji provided. "This is the sport of kings! Until now only royalty and Heads of State could afford such a fine machine. And, as a bonus, it is simple to operate! Even you could do it, little Miss!"

Annie said nothing to the doubt of her ability to problem solve. She instead listened to the operation instructions, the salesman chinking back a lever.

"Now you just need to pull back the other lever! On my signal, okay?"

Annie waited with her grip on the lever. At the vocal provocation she yanked the article back, sending a clay pigeon flying with the action. The trunk was opened and a gun whisked out, quick to fire and blast the flying target to pieces. Reiner choked on his loss of breath. Balto jumped at the noise, his children much more enthused.

"Wow! That was amazing!"

"Do it again, do it again!"

"The most powerful one on the market, _and_ very reasonably priced!" Hanji informed, locking his gun back into the trunk.

"Is that why it is so loud?" Bertholdt asked timidly. Hanji was beginning to give an explanation when Balto decided he needed to voice his opinion, the man ambling down the stairs.

"That is the biggest waste of money I have ever seen!" He said. "Sir, you better take that garbage and get the hell off this property!"

"I'll take it!" Reiner announced, Hanji smiling at his successful selling of the product. Balto's face flushed in anger.

"I am _not_ going to have my children around this foolishness!" He warned, weakly.

"Then _leave_." Annie advised, her look hard and cold. Balto seized up.

The relatives left as Reiner shelled out the money for the machine, the bills in a large clump. Annie promised to see Sasha and Connie at school the next day, the two weary from their exciting adventures at the farm. She returned to her uncles as the salesman left, the clay pigeon machine paid for and left behind. Annie asked Reiner what he wanted to do with it.

Annie spent the rest of the day reading and launching clay pigeons for her uncle.

.

Annie could not believe how cliché the morning of her first day of school was. She awoke to have a breakfast of Cheerios with her uncles, drove to school in the same manner she had the Friday before, and was told to have a good day while given her lunch box, which- surprise, surprise- contained a sandwich and an apple. She sighed.

Anka gave the girl her schedule as soon as she walked into the office, briefing her on the strange procedure of only changing classes for science and mathematics and specialized, once-a-week courses. Annie did not question it and made her way through the hallways to her homeroom.

Annie decided she did not like Miss Ral the moment she met her. She was young and green, with too bright of a smile and too sweet of an attitude. Annie saw her as the type of person who picked favorites and un-favorites, who gave no leeway on rules no matter the situation, whose mood could crash in an instant. The woman insisted upon Annie introducing herself before the class, the girl internally peeved at the suggestion. Miss Ral waited until the final bell rang and her students settled.

"We have a new student today…" She began, Annie holding her reactive sigh in her throat, the phrase not new to her. She did not step forward when her teacher encouraged her to give an introduction and summary of her interests, the girl instead giving her classmates a picturesque view of her empty expression.

"I am Annie Leonhardt." She said, the only inflection to accent her last name. "I like to read."

If Miss Ral wanted more she did not get it, Annie sitting in her seat after less than a dozen words. A hesitant and awkward applause was given. Annie could feel the curiosity rise amongst the children in the room and finally released her sigh. She leaned on her elbow as the teacher raised her chalk and began her lecture.

.

Annie had assessed her bestowed class fairly well before lunchtime. She knew who were the smart ones, the quiet ones, the ones with dominating presences, the kinder ones, the harsher ones. The prize of intellectual champion was competed over by two friends, a Mikasa Ackerman and Armin Arlert. Mikasa was naturally gifted with brains and did not care whether she was or not, while Armin was passionate about knowledge and lived his life in such a way. The kindest and quietest person was boy named Marco Bodt. He had freckles from the sun and was friends with a much pricklier Jean Kirstein. Jean took it upon himself to bicker with Eren Jaeger at any opportune moment. The boys would quarrel and have to be quelled by Marco and Mikasa and a sharp word from Miss Ral. It surprised Annie to find that Mikasa was Eren's adopted sibling.

The lunch hour finally came, albeit slowly, Annie gathering her food and book to take outside. She greeted Sasha appropriately when she saw the girl in the hallway, with a wave and a word, Sasha much more joyous and vocal at seeing the older girl. The bench Annie found was shaded by a tree and outlying to the bustle of the playground. She ate and read in relative silence.

What Annie did not expect was to be interrupted. She noticed as he began to walk up to her and lowered her book an inch, eyes critical. Being spotted made the boy nervous. He dropped his gaze and hugged his tome to his chest.

"C-Can I sit here?" The boy Annie remembered as Armin Arlert asked, clearing his throat at his stutter. Annie leaned her head to the side to contemplate the request. She did not reply, instead scooting to the side to open a space. He sat and relaxed.

"I would have thought you would have liked to spend time with your friends." Annie commented as the boy peeled open the pages of his book. Armin shook his head once, his answer simple.

"Mikasa and Eren are having footraces and I am not very good at that…"

Annie hummed thoughtfully. She did not speak to the boy anymore, her attention absorbed in her reading. Armin did the same.

.

Bertholdt inquired his niece how her day was, and she told him it was fine, also informing him that Armin had invited her to the library his grandfather worked at whenever it fancied her. Bertholdt expressed that it was wondrous that she was making friends and made the girl flout.

The night came quick and dark, Annie early to retire to her room. She read a while and examined the picture once again. She noticed how the woman wore Arabian garments but lacked Arabian features, clear in her European lightness. She tucked the frame under her pillow and was about to turn off the light when she heard the door slam and saw her Uncle Reiner trudging towards the lake. She concluded to follow.

The dogs and the pig were already present when she reached the water. She stood with them to watch her uncle, the man different this night. He held the broom but did not attack with it. He instead looked across the lakebed with a cold, distant gaze, motionless as the extinguished wind. Annie took a step forward.

"Uncle Reiner?" She asked and received no answer. She pondered what would happen if she tried to wake him. She reached out towards him only to be stopped, longer arms blocking her path. Bertholdt shook his head violently at his niece.

"I don't want him to take your head off!" He said, Annie scornful of the idea that he could. Bertholdt sighed softly at her confidence in downing another grown man.

The two soon had a small campfire blazing, the dog pack sitting around the fire pit with Annie and Bertholdt. Bertholdt moved the sticks with a long iron poker, fixing the brush to keep the fire alive.

"What are you doing out this late?" He asked, Annie shrugging and gesturing at her still-as-stone uncle. Bertholdt nodded in understanding.

"He does this sometimes. Just give him a few minutes."

"Why?" Annie queried. Her uncle shook his head with a smile.

"He may be old, but his spirit is still restless. You should know that." He replied, Annie having to shadow her own smile. "He was even worse when he was younger."

Annie critiqued her Uncle Reiner for a moment, heeding his sorrowful stare and peacefulness.

"I think he is looking for something." She observed, Bertholdt nodding in confirmation.

"He is. He is looking for _her_. The woman he could never have."

An image of the woman in the dusky picture came to mind. Annie looked back to Bertholdt, questioning.

"Who? What was her name?"

"…Her name was Historia." He said after a pause. "Sheikha Historia Amatullah bint Ludhriq al-Reissue."

Annie gained a doubtful and curious look on her face. "'Historia' seems a little out of place in that name." She said, Bertholdt laughing a fluty laugh.

"Historia was the youngest daughter of a Sheik." He explained. "But her mother was from Italy, from Milan. That is why her first name is 'Historia'."

Annie hummed in understanding. She petted the pig when it walked up to her, rubbing between its ears. She hesitated.

"… Tell me. Tell me about Historia."

"Then I will have to tell you the whole story!" Bertholdt argued meekly. "And it is not a short one, it takes days…"

"What else do you have to do with no television?" Bertholdt did not have an excuse for that. Even the dogs whimpered, leaning forward, eager to listen. Bertholdt made a distressed noise and looked down, beaten.

"Alright, alright, fine…" Annie sat proud with her victory, stretching out her legs to prepare for the story. Bertholdt rubbed his head before he began.

"As I said before, Reiner has a restless spirit. He convinced our parents- my adopted parents- he was too restless for Texas and needed to go to Europe, to France; and that I, well, needed to come along… That was the summer of 1914."

"Isn't that when World War I started?" Annie interrogated. "When Germany…" Bertholdt nodded solemnly.

"We arrived in France along with the entire German army." Annie saw her uncle shiver at his remembered fear. But he swallowed his emotions to continue.

"I wanted to go home, but Reiner convinced me we could tour Europe a step ahead of the Germans. And we did, for the most part. We saw the monuments, the museums… Reiner liked the pretty European women."

He smiled at the disgusted face his niece made, knowing he would catch her with that. The bulldog covered his face.

"We eventually ended up in Marseilles, with a passage booked on a ship leaving Europe in the morning. Reiner wanted to spend our last night enjoying the night life…"

Annie narrowed her eyes. "Like… Can-Can bars?"

Bertholdt flushed and dipped his head. "Y-Yeah… We made friends with soldiers while we were there. They bought us some drinks. Strong, foreign drinks, and… We woke up on a ship heading for North Africa. We were shanghaied. Shanghaied into the French Foreign Legion."

"Shanghaied into the French Foreign Legion…" Annie repeated reflectively. "So even though you were American…"

"We could still join the Legion." Bertholdt provided. "Reiner said it was all his fault, but that he would protect me, that he wouldn't let anything happen to me… And he did. He saved my life countless times."

Annie waited as Bertholdt gave his brother a loving, respectful look. Annie touched her chest where it hurt again, hurt at seeing the bond and love between the two. She was not upset that the story was interrupted, only thankful it began again.

"Four long years we fought all over North Africa, fought many battles, against countless enemies, overwhelming odds… But it eventually ended, as you know. That is when we went our separate ways for a while. I led safaris in Kenya for the richer, such as writers and Hollywood stars. This was temperate enough for me, although too mild for Reiner. He instead received permission from the new governments in North Africa to put an end to the slave trade…"

"Sounds like something he would do."

Bertholdt rubbed his cheek. "That was him. A wild American that no nomad or slave trader had seen the likes of before."

"Sounds like him too-."

"What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?"

Bertholdt yelped and covered his mouth at the sudden declaration, quaking, while Annie looked casually towards Reiner. The man held the broom like a staff upon the ground, stare voicing his displeasure. He softened when he frightened Bertholdt and looked at him sympathetically. Annie stood and the dogs followed.

"Just enjoying the nighttime. But we were just going in." She answered, her lie believable. Bertholdt nodded to credit her and stood as well to merit her point. Suspicion crossed Reiner's eyes for a moment, but he degraded it, shaking his head.

"You should be in bed. You have school tomorrow."

Annie agreed.


	4. Labu'a, Lionne

**Labu'a, Lionne**

Bertholdt did not continue the story after he was interrupted.

This was understandable, for Reiner's sleep was serene for a long while after that night, giving his housemates little time to speak of private matters. The business in the garden had also increased. Bertholdt had purchased seeds to plant from a certain traveling salesman and the sprouts were currently knee-high and lush green. They needed daily weeding and watering, attended to by two aged men and a young girl.

On a day Annie was sent down the endless driveway to retrieve the mail was a day she received a letter. It was buried among the catalogs and bills and advertisements, but was found by a quick shuffle; the thing something she had never gotten before. The dogs followed the girl back to the house.

The envelope was ripped open once Annie seated herself on the porch. She scanned the writing and a disgusted look wrinkled her nose.

 _Dear Annie_ , it read, _I apologize for not writing you sooner. It has taken me longer than planned to settle here in Trost City; it has been a while since I've been in school you know…_

Annie looked at the corner of the torn envelope. **Las Vegas, Nevada. Entertainment Capital of the World!** it provided. Annie shredded the papers in mere seconds, sitting in the feathers of the aftermath as the particles flew about her. Her knuckles gripped white.

The screen door dropped shut behind her. Bertholdt exited the house right before Reiner, the latter male in a much more sour mood.

"I look like a damn farmhand!" Reiner spat, motioning to his new pair of overalls. A straw hat also rested upon his head.

"When people garden, this is what they wear." Bertholdt informed him, dressed much in the same way. Reiner huffed at that and stalked off, leaving his brother to tell Annie she had a new outfit as well.

Annie much preferred the denim work clothes to her usual dress or skirt. The overalls did not damage easily and did not have to be constantly minded for cleanliness. Also, the girl finally had a garment that matched her garden boots.

The trio worked amongst the young plants together, hoeing and weeding and watering. Most (if not all) of the greenery split into two leaves to increase the surface area available for gathering sunlight. Annie checked not to strike the growing vegetables with a swing of her hoe, her Uncle Reiner not so precautious. He dug and attacked the earth as if it were a fight to the death. His face was scowled and stiff, his whacking violent. Annie cocked her head, resting a moment to watch the display.

"Do we _need_ all of these vegetables?" Reiner demanded, breath shallow and labored.

"Do not think of it that way!" Bertholdt heartened. "Think about how good everything is going to taste! Peas, carrots, tomatoes…"

While watching her uncles Annie took a full view of the garden. A sudden realization dawned upon her that every plant looked identical; everything was just alike.

"What is this row?" Annie asked, pointing to the line of plants before her. Bertholdt leaned forward to check the marked stake.

"Cabbage."

"And this?" She inquired while indicating the next one.

"Beets."

Compared, the two had no differences

"I thought beets grew in the ground."

"The part we eat does, but they have leafy tops as well."

Reiner was not as unconcerned and oblivious as his brother. He noticed his niece's critical eye and raised himself from his work, viewing the similar plants with her. Suspicion bloomed on his face.

"What is _this_ row?" Annie asked for the third time.

"… Potatoes."

"Potatoes? Now wait just a damn minute!" Reiner removed himself from the heart of the garden and began to walk before the rows, looking at the pictures upon the seed packets.

"What is that row?" Annie questioned once more.

"Tomatoes…" Bertholdt replied softly, sensing something was out of place as well. Reiner squinted at the picture of the tomato plant upon the package.

"None of these plants match their picture!"

He then began to name the apparent vegetable in each row as he walked, Bertholdt making a distressed noise as he realized each one was wrong.

"Leeks, squash, yams, lettuce…"

"That row looks right." Annie said when she considered the picture to the plant. "It is…"

"Corn." Reiner stated flatly. "It is corn. Just like all the other rows.

" _Oh_ …" Bertholdt whispered, covering his face with his hands. "That's why all those seeds looked alike… But I thought that was how all seeds were _supposed_ to look."

"Nothing but _corn_. We will have to eat corn for _months_."

"I am so sorry, Reiner…"

"Poor Uncle Bertholdt…" Annie sighed, leaning onto her hoe. "That wicked seeds salesman saw you coming…"

Spirits were raised when a honk sounded. It was the notable honk of a large transportation truck, not the all-too-well known one of a Buick, the girl and her uncle's looking towards the sound. A wide grin uplifted Reiner's features.

"By God, it's here!"

What phased Annie was the appearance of a giraffe. The incredibly tall animal was seen clearly over the brush and trees of the land, moving slowly with the truck as it navigated down the driveway

"Bertholdt, lets go! Annie, you help them unload."

The girl was nearly struck with a gardening tool when her uncle tossed back his hoe in all his excitement. He rushed towards the house, his brother hurrying to follow, although not as careless discarding his tool. Annie waited until the vehicle braked to inspect the truck.

Three men and many crates greeted her. All the workers bustled and moved along the crates, each in a uniform that read **Scout Animal Movers**. A spot above the company logo also provided the girl with names; names such as Erwin, Levi, and Mike. Annie did not, however, pay any of them much heed, instead interested in the contents of the crates. A gap in one caught her fancy. She peered at the moving shadows inside, only jumping when a fat, deadly paw darted out, a roar accompanying the action. Embarrassment of her reaction made Annie scowl.

"Careful, kid." The dark-haired worker warned, him a witness to the scene. "Get any closer and he will tear your face off."

"I know." Annie said testily, the worker making an unimpressed huff, his attention returning to his work. His colleague recovered a clipboard and scanned the typeset.

"Is this Reiner Braun's place?" The man named Erwin asked. Annie confirmed with a nod. "I see… We brought your lion. Sign here."

Annie signed in her uncle's stead with her own name. The triad of animal movers prepared themselves to unload a single crate, the side stamped to read **Roseville Zoo**.

"You get your very own king of the jungle!" The bearded worker enthused, giving the girl a smile and wink. She shrugged, aloof.

"Quit shitting around and help us unload."

The crate was beginning its process of movement when Reiner and Bertholdt reappeared, both with new hunting garments and rifles. Bertholdt held his by the nozzle with a worried look in his eyes, Reiner examining that his gun was loaded with a snap.

"Where do you want him?" Erwin asked, Reiner inclining that where it was headed was fine. The crate was sat gently upon the dry yard.

"Why did you buy a lion? A _used_ lion?" Annie asked, rubbing her forehead simultaneously, walking to stand by the wooden crate.

"Stay back, Annie!" Bertholdt fretted needlessly, the girl sighing. "I don't want you mauled and eaten!" He then glanced to his brother, the man staring hungrily at the crate. "Reiner, are you sure this is a good idea…?"

"This is the best idea I've ever had!" He declared. "A lion head will look so good over our fireplace…"

"Uncle Reiner, you don't _have_ a fireplace."

"I'll buy one!"

"Gentleman, pleasure doing business with you." Erwin interjected, although politely, dipping into a short bow. "We hope to see you again soon."

With the absence of the truck and other animals it was eerily quiet, the crate hushed. Annie knocked on the wood.

"Are you sure there is a lion in there you can shoot?" She inquired. "This does not seem very sporting…"

"When you are as old as we are this is as sporting as it gets." Reiner said, cocking his gun. "Now, Annie: when I give the word, you pull the latch. Then we can _see_ if there really is a lion in there to shoot."

"Maybe Annie should have a gun too…" Bertholdt feared, his niece assuring him she would be fine. He prepped his gun as well, swallowing audibly.

"Okay… Now!"

Annie jerked the latch back, her ears covered and body ducked before the hatch could hit the dust. It was many moments before she lifted herself up and removed her hand's from her ear's, questioning the lack of gunfire. Her uncle's remained poised.

" _Hey_!" Reiner shouted at the crate. "You, in the crate! Get out of there!"

An aged lion simply yawned. Annie looked inside the container to view the mangy beast, the golden eyes of the animal staring at her lazily.

"It is awful tame…" She commented, Reiner moaning with unhappiness.

"This lion is no _good_. It is a defective lion!"

"Are you going to shoot it or not?" Annie asked.

"I can't, not inside the crate! That wouldn't be sporting. I need to wait for it to pop its head out!"

"It looks so old…" Bertholdt said, lowering his rifle. The creature coughed, hacking pitifully. "And sick too…"

"Oh, now I _really_ can't shoot it!" Reiner growled, throwing down his gun. Annie hid the chuckle caused by her uncle's childishness behind her hand.

"Defective, a dying zoo reject…"

"Can I keep it?" Annie requested, her uncle's taken aback.

"You want to make the lion your _pet_?" Reiner gaped.

"Why not?" She asked with a shrug. "I can feed it, water it, take care of it… What else are you going to do with it if you are not going to shoot it?"

"Annie, do you think you can nurse the lion back to health?" Bertholdt inquired.

"Perhaps."

"And _then_ we can shoot it?"

Annie sighed at her Uncle Reiner.

She hesitated until her uncle's made the journey back to the house, lifting the door to shut the crate.

"They are a bunch of knuckleheads, I know." Annie told the lion. "But they are usually good people. Usually."

The lion yawned.

.

Annie gifted her pet cold steak and fixed the crate to allow more light in by sundown. The girl discovered some of the animal's personality when it stared at the outside curiously. The lion watched the dogs and the pig and the birds with an observers eye, rumbling happily.

Annie was given a glass of tea when she joined her uncle's on the porch, the top stair still her designated sitting area. She hummed as she heard the lion heave with a roar.

"Are you sure he cannot get out?" Bertholdt queried.

" _She_." Annie corrected. " _She_ is a girl lion."

"Figures…" Reiner mumbled, sipping his tea.

"I named her Christa."

Reiner all but sprayed the tea from his mouth, the liquid choking him. He created a wet stain on his overalls at the spitting display. He then bolted upright, furious.

"What did you just say?" He asked in a dark, level voice. Annie raised an eyebrow.

"That I named her Christa?" She repeated, Reiner growling dangerously, setting his glass down hard enough to slosh tea out of the sides. The screen door shut violently behind him.

"What is his problem?" Annie scoffed, disapproving of his attitude. Bertholdt cowered behind his tea glass.

"Christa is what he used to call _her_ , Annie." He whispered.

"What? Why?"

"Because she reminded him of Saint Christina." He explained. "Because Historia was raised a Christian by her mother, but her father was Muslim…" He trailed off, point made, silence falling with his words. Annie put down her bitter tea that tasted sour.


	5. Sheik ibn Ymir al-Fadl

**Sheik ibn Ymir al-Fadl**

The first time Annie met Armin's grandfather was the day she returned her copy of _Divided Heaven_ (the book from which she had acquired Christa's name). She did not know, however, it was he who greeted her with a smile and he who looked with mortification to Reiner and Bertholdt when she requested a print of _Lolita_. She realized it when her blond classmate came to the front desk looking for him and found her instead.

"Hello, Annie!" Armin invited with a genuine grin. "How are you?"

"I am fine, thank you."

The two made small talk until the boy's grandfather returned with the book. The elder eyed Annie and her uncle's as he checked the hardback out in the girl's name, Bertholdt nervous and embarrassed at his glances, Reiner mostly placid. Armin paused the conversation as Annie was gifted her book, leaning behind the desk.

"Grandpa, Eren wanted a bookmark."

The boy was given a blue bookmark made out of thick cardboard. Annie wished her acquaintance a good day and was preparing to leave when he stopped her, the girl having to glance over her shoulder.

"Annie! Would you like to stay with Eren, Mikasa, and me for a while?" This was his asking, Annie deciding to consider the invitation. She hummed, inclining her head, looking towards her uncle's for their opinions. Reiner composed himself resistant to the notion while Bertholdt encouraged it with nods and the ushering of his hands. Annie recognized both of their thoughts before making her own, facing the eager boy waiting for her answer.

"… I suppose I could stay. For a little while." She determined.

.

It was agreed upon that Annie's caregivers would returned after two hours had elapsed. She followed Armin to the back of the library after the settlement, her book held under her arm. Armin disclosed that he had read the novel without his grandfather's approval as they walked.

"It is fairly good, actually." He said. "There are explicit themes in it, but the narrative is interesting."

"I like stories with unreliable narrators." Annie replied. "Like _The Cask of Amontillado_ and _Frankenstein_."

The alcove they reached was adorned with bright lights and a multitude of whirling fans. Wooden tables and plush chairs filled the room nicely, the single couch pushed against the single window. A boy hung upside-down on this couch, his hair signaling so, his reading material positioned the same as he. Annie read the cover of the book as it was, seeing the title of _The Metamorphosis_. The girl next to him warned of the blood going into his head, the boy scowling as he sat upright, his companion contented and returning to her copy of _Stranger in a Strange Land._

"Eren, Mikasa! You know Annie, right?"

Annie had no idea why they would not know of her, but greeted them nevertheless. Eren appeared absolutely baffled at the presence of the girl in the same ubiety as him without being in school. His wide, cow-like eyes watched her for many moments, Annie dipping her face to show her eyes at a harsher angle at the treatment. Mikasa returned the formalities with more kind words and a nod. She also took the liberty to scold her brother for gapping for too long.

"I hope it is alright if I join you." Annie pardoned, finding a chair close to a fan to rest in. Armin was the one to assure her she was perfectly welcome before clumping with his friends on the couch. The book he picked up was a plain hardback version of _Lord of the Flies_. Annie was curious about this choice in literature, never thinking someone of Armin's sweet nature could enjoy such a subject matter. She pondered upon it, concluding someone who liked Vladimir Nabokov could very well like William Golding.

Eren fiddled with his new bookmark in a restless sort of way. He creased the paper down the center and pinched the two halves together over and over, simulating the opening and closing of a crocodile's jaws. He also ran his thumbnail down the sides of the bookmark. This created an irksome rasping sound even more dreadful than the clapping of the paper. Annie wanted to snap at him to cease his actions. She, however, knew that to be impolite and that she was a guest. She instead ignored him to the best of her ability.

The distracting boy eventually spoke, fidgeting even as he did so.

"This book is… confusing." Eren said slowly, grimacing at the open page.

"Then read something else, Eren." Mikasa suggested. "You are more attuned to reading comic books anyway."

"But I can't! Jean read _1984_ , so I have to read something even more difficult! And I don't want to read _Animal Farm_ …"

"There is no shame in knowing when to walk away." Armin added. "Maybe you can read it when you are older? Like when you are in high school?"

Annie paused in her study to view the conflict before her, leaning on her elbow as Eren made the argument that Armin had read the same story so he should be able to as well. The girl sighed as Mikasa tried to explain that Armin had read the text with his grandfather and therefore had better resources to understand it than her brother.

"Annie, you think I can read it, right?"

Annie stared at Eren for a moment. The boy was desperate to get her on his side, everyone else against him. She dropped the hand from her face, questioning his trust in her. He waited.

"… I do not think you have the ability to, no."

She looked away as all the hope in the boy's face vanished only to be replaced by defensiveness and anger.

"I _can!_ I am sure I can!" He disagreed fruitlessly.

Annie said nothing more, disregarding the spewed arguments she found childish, useless, and exhausted.

.

"Sorry it took so long to come in." The man apologized with a tip of his hat. "I did not know they even made such a thing! In all my years we have never gotten a call for it…"

Annie followed her uncle's as they wove among the crates and displays of the feed store, the owner leading them to their requested purchase. A huddle of farmers enclosed the pile of burlap sacks, acting as if they were the most amazing thing they had ever seen. Annie thought that for old farmers who lived in a dusty Texan town that could be true.

"'Purina Lion Chow'. By golly…"

"I'll go get my boys, they can load you up." The owner offered, his kindness quick to be dismissed.

"There is no need for that." Reiner told him. He instead wedged between the circle of farmers, scooping a bag in each arm. He hosted them to his shoulders and stalked towards the truck. "Bertholdt, pay him."

"Reiner, _be careful_." Bertholdt urged his brother. "Those look heavy and I don't want you hurting yourself."

Reiner huffed, mocking the idea. He tossed the two bags into the truck bed ungracefully, marching back to collect more. Annie looked at the dull printing upon the burlap and saw they were fifty pounds per bag. She watched as her uncle carried two more away. She sighed as the farmers around her whispered, impressed.

A few trips later and the bed of the truck was full, Bertholdt finished counting the money and giving it to the beaming owner. Reiner rolled his shoulder and stretched his back, working out the slight aches he had. Annie hopped off of the loading dock after her uncle.

"There. If you two are done, we can go home." Reiner groused.

Bertholdt came at the calling, joining his niece on the other side of the truck. Reiner grabbed the door handle only to have his grip falter, his hand slipping and the rest of his body falling with it. Annie stiffened as she heard Reiner crash to the ground, the gravel and dust crackling around him. Bertholdt made the most horrified retching sound she had ever heard.

" _R-Reiner!_ "

.

Annie was not afraid, even as her Uncle Reiner lied motionless and her Uncle Bertholdt drove like a madman to the hospital. She remained out of the way as the hospital personnel gathered her uncle from the car and wheeled him into a room, shutting Annie and Bertholdt out as nurses and doctors scrambled to and fro. The girl was calm and cool as she waited, sitting beside Bertholdt on a wooden bench. The man, however, was jittery and nervous, sweating as he bit his lip with worry. Annie put her hand atop his. The act soothed him, if only slightly.

After some time had passed and some tranquility had been restored, Annie deemed it safe to leave her uncle for a moment. She left her hat and made a trip to the drinking fountain. She had to jostle the switch for a moment before the water sputtered forth.

"Psst! Little girl! _Psst!_ "

Annie paused her drinking momentarily.

"Psst! Over here!"

Around the nook in the wall a woman was gesturing to her, indicating the girl to lean closer. Curious, Annie did so, receiving a whiff of the woman's cheap perfume.

"You're with those brothers who live on that run-down farm?" She asked softly.

"… Reiner and Bertholdt?"

"Yes!" She confirmed in a harsher whisper. "I know about them. They are ex-mafia hit-men and they are on the run with _millions_ that they stole from Al Capone!"

Annie wanted to inquire as to how the insistent women knew this, but decided it was not worth her time. She instead nodded her head and excused herself.

She returned to her solemn uncle promptly. Bertholdt had went back to shivering and chewing on his lips. Annie decided he needed something to distract his worries and thought she had just the thing: a story perfect to tell when Reiner was not present.

"Uncle Bertholdt…" Annie said. "Tell me more about Africa. About you, and Uncle Reiner, and Historia."

"Annie…" He replied gently. "Why do you, of all people, want to hear a story about old has-beens?"

"It's a good story," Annie shrugged. "What else do we have to do?"

Her uncle thought momentarily. He caved when he could find no answer. "… Alright. Now… Where was I?"

Annie knew exactly where.

"… 'That was him. A wild American that no nomad or slave trader had seen the likes of before.' And then I said that it sounded like something Uncle Reiner would do."

"Right, right," Bertholdt agreed, clearing his throat. "Well, it just so happened that one of the slaves Reiner freed was handmaiden to a princess."

"Historia?"

"Historia," Bertholdt nodded. "The daughter of Sheik Ludhriq al-Reissue. She had moved back to her father's kingdom only recently, after the death of her mother. As so, the new friends she had made were very dear to her. The reunion of the handmaiden and Historia was very joyful. It was only after that she heard the story of the handmaiden's rescue: the story of the heroic American who had saved her."

Annie wondered how the woman had depicted her uncle. She returned from her thoughts as her Uncle Bertholdt continued, her head shaking.

"It was only right that Historia wanted to meet him, to thank him."

"And she did, right?"

"I am getting to that." Bertholdt assured her. "Because one day, Reiner was riding his horse along the Mediterranean, when suddenly, another, veiled rider appeared."

"Historia?"

"I am getting to that," Bertholdt repeated, his telling stricter at the second interruption. Annie huffed. "The other rider pulled up alongside Reiner. Whether it was intentional or not, a race began. You know him; he would never let a challenger pass."

Annie hummed, nodding her head.

"Many considered Reiner one of the best horsemen in North Africa. He'd never lost a horserace before and was not going to today. And yet this other rider remained right beside him, neck and neck as they raced down the coastline. The race went on. And _on_."

Annie blinked as her uncle's expression illuminated with the excitement. "But suddenly the horses stumbled and crashed, tossing both riders into the sea. Reiner tumbled and jumped up, knife drawn, ready for anything… Or, almost anything. The other rider wrestled with their thick, wet clothing and pulled off their veil."

"Historia?" Annie asked, finally at the right time.

"Historia." Her uncle echoed. "It was the princess, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen."

If she was anything like her photograph, Annie had to agree. She could envision Historia's wide, turquoise eyes framed by a smile, her teeth perfect and white. Her long hair would be charming even while tangled, her petite form hugged by her wet clothing. Anyone who fell for her beauty could not be blamed, not even her uncle.

"This might be a little cheesy, Annie…" Bertholdt continued, rubbing his neck. "Might be a cliché from fairytales, but… When Reiner first laid eyes on her it was truly, undoubtedly, unbelievably… 'Love at First Sight'."

A smile picked up the girl's lips as she dreamed of the scene, of the two coming together and clasping each other in the surf. It was many moments before she realized that her uncle had finished, blinking herself back into reality. The abrupt halt bothered her.

"Wait… If it was true love they would have gotten married and lived happily ever after! She would be with us right now! Where _is_ she?"

Bertholdt peeped at Annie's rushed, angry words. "A-Annie, you are getting a little ahead of the story…" He tried to explain, easing his clearly upset niece. The girl crossed her arms and leaned back against the bench.

Bertholdt swallowed once. "I told you Reiner loved _her_ , not that _she_ loved _him_."

"… What?"

"That's… How it was." He clarified. "Historia did not love Reiner in the way he loved her. She wanted to be his friend but nothing more."

Annie said nothing when he paused for comment.

"… A-And even though falling off their horses was embarrassing for both of them," Bertholdt continued hastily, "Historia still remained cheerful and waded across the surf to thank Reiner for her friend's rescue and to apologize for her mishap. She also invited him to visit her father's palace whenever he liked. And he remained around the palace, for a while, befriending the princess. He was also preparing for his courtship, but…"

"It did not work." Annie said so her uncle did not have to.

"Historia may have only wanted to be his friend, but he never thought that was the case. It is only when she told him of her betrothal to another that he knew."

The drama of the situation inspired Annie's interest. She kicked herself off the back of the bench and leaned towards her uncle.

"Who was she betrothed to?" She inquired.

"Sheik ibn Ymir al-Fadl." Bertholdt said with the proper inflection. "Her childhood sweetheart. The Sheik was the child of an official who had risen to power in a neighboring kingdom. The Sheik knew Historia from when she was younger and lived with her father, from before she moved to Milan. They reconnected when The Sheik heard she had returned to live with her father. It was not long before The Sheik asked Historia's father for her hand in marriage."

"I bet he did not deserve her." Annie decided. "I bet he was ugly and mean."

"… I do not know if The Sheik was mean or not, but Historia liked The Sheik. I have only seem pictures, but, The Sheik was... handsome?" The man struggled with the adjective, saying it like it had a bad taste on his tongue. "I cannot say The Sheik was terribly unattractive."

"You keep saying 'The Sheik', why is that?"

"Well..."

A crash interrupted and startled both of them. An uproar was heard as a bedpan whirled from Reiner's room, clattering against the wall and falling as other medical equipment was tossed about.

"Where are my pants? Where the _hell_ are my pants?"

Reiner stumbled into the hallway with an I.V. tailing him. His wore a hospital gown, his clothing waded up in his hand. He also looked very, very agitated.

"Why am I in here? Bertholdt! Annie!"

Annie shook her head innocently while Bertholdt went rigid and pale. He was ignored, however, when a herd of doctors and nurses appeared. They had no hesitation trying to prevent Reiner from leaving.

"Mr. Braun!" A doctor with crooked glasses called to him. "Mr. Braun, you are in no state to be leaving!"

"Don't try and stop me!" Was his reply as he removed the I.V. in his arm and made his way to the exit. Annie and Bertholdt looked at one another before deciding to hurry after him.


	6. Escape to the Cornfield

**Escape to the Cornfield**

Silent tension filled the truck as it rolled down the dusty road.

Annie felt it the most, being packaged between her uncles of differing moods. Reiner, now dressed in his overalls and work shirt, was undoubtedly irate. He gripped the steering wheel like he wanted to strangle the thing, his golden eyes alive with fire as he watched the road before him. Bertholdt was sorrowful and limp against the window. Even though he had done right he felt he had done wrong, upset that he had distressed his brother. He stared at his hunched knees and said nothing.

"Hospitals!" Reiner said, final cutting the voiceless atmosphere. "They take you in, tell you you're sick, and then charge you a hundred dollars! Bunch of useless nonsense they are."

"You could have been seriously hurt," Annie explained to him. "We do not want you to die because you decided to lift hundreds of pounds of Lion Chow by yourself."

Reiner scowled and the silence continued. It was broken again when the girl noticed the mailbox and long driveway of the farm pass beside the truck. She twisted her head to look back, the mailbox clouded by dust.

"Uncle Reiner, you missed the turn."

"I did not!"

"Yes you did! I just watched you. The house is that way."

"I want to go _this_ way!"

Annie huffed and narrowed her eyes. Reiner rarely snapped at her, and when he did he was in a foul mood and acted very childish. She shunned her uncle, turning her head away from him to display her displeasure. She leaned upon her Uncle Bertholdt as they continued down the road.

Reiner eventually pulled the truck to a halt outside of a country store. Various signs promised affordable gasoline and cheap cigarettes and beer along with a special recipe of barbeque ribs available for purchase. Annie followed her uncle's as they exited the truck and entered the store.

The owner was a bony old man with a thinning beard and sad eyes. He prepared the three orders of ribs and served them on wax paper. He then went into the back of the store without another word.

Annie liked the briny beef ribs, the sauce uncared for as it splashed upon her overalls. She was thankful she was not wearing one of her dresses to be ruined. She paused her eating, listening to her uncle's conversation.

"I'm not afraid of dying!" Reiner told Bertholdt as he continued their discussion. "I'm not afraid of getting old either."

"Maybe I'm afraid of you dying..." Bertholdt replied carefully, still worried that he had upset his brother.

"I'm only afraid of becoming _useless_ ," Reiner said as he spat a piece of gristle onto the wax paper. "Seems that is all we are now. When we were young there was always something to live for, to fight for, a _point_. Now there is not much point to anything. We sit around and shoot at salesmen, we garden... Maybe we should've died in that last battle."

"But we lived. Maybe we need to find the things still worth living for."

Annie hummed in approval. She finished a rib as they continued to chat beside her, the bone given to the old dog sleeping behind the counter. She was startled as she heard a shrieking sound. A speeding convertible jerked to a stop, three whooping teenagers jumping out simultaneously. The thundered like a herd of cattle into the store, laughing jovially, the largest and most greasy-haired of them all fishing in the cooler for a carton of beer. Annie did not like how they thought they owned anything they wanted.

One of them noticed the three at the counter. Annie saw as a trouble-making grin lifted his face, the boy trotting over. He stood between Annie and her Uncle Reiner.

"Heyyyy, old man! How're those ribs? Gimme one!"

Reiner swatted the greaser's hand away as he leaned on the counter and began to reach for the barbeque. Reiner finished his thought before giving the boy any heed, his muscled shoulders held high and gaze threatening. Annie thought the boy stupid not to be intimidated.

"We're busy here, kid. Get lost."

" _What?_ " he questioned with the edge of a false laugh. "What did you just say to me?"

"See, Bertholdt," Reiner said, turning to his brother, "this is what I'm talking about with kids nowadays. Ever since this boy has been crying for his momma's tit he has been given everything but discipline. Now he thinks riding around with a bunch of asshole friends and harassing good-natured folks is a good display of courage and manhood."

Disbelief consumed the group of friends. The one closest to Reiner growled dangerously, lifting himself off the counter.

"Just who the hell do you think you are? Huh? Old man?"

Annie saw the heat return to her uncle's eyes. Bertholdt saw it as well and touched his brother's arm, pleading softly.

"Reiner, please don't..."

The man relaxed, the act almost soothing him. The greaser, however, laughed, jumping back into a fighting stance.

"You wanna fight?"

Annie was battered into when the boy jerked back. A fearful squeak passed her lips as she dropped to the floor, falling like a tossed ragdoll. The pitiful noise, the first one Reiner ever heard his niece create, must have enacted a defensiveness in the man, a defensiveness of one's young, of Annie, more dynamic than Bertholdt's plea.

Reiner stood quicker than a striking snake, grabbing the boy by the collar and slamming him against the countertop. His voice was taunt with fury as he spoke.

"I'm Reiner Braun. I've fought in two world wars and countless smaller ones in countries that only exist today, on three continents. I've watched thousands of men die as they ran into battle with swords and on horses as they fought against gunfire and tanks. I've seen the entire length of the Nile and tribes of natives no white man had ever seen before. I've won and lost almost everything, killed many men, and lost the only woman I loved, with a love a worm like you could never understand. _That's_ who I am."

Bertholdt rushed to Annie as Reiner threw the boy back to his group of friends. Annie hissed with unhappiness, rubbing a tender part of her hip. She glared at the group of greasers with unmasked rage. She waved off her uncle as he tried to tend to her, instead standing without a wince of pain. Her hands clenched.

"Come on! We'll show him who's really tough."

The three boys all exposed their switchblades with a click. The realization that bodily harm might come to his brother or his niece must have shaken something within Bertholdt as well. The man, tall as he was, typically had a small presence. His protectiveness towards his family dissolved this weak composure. He stood before Annie to guard her from the danger, hatefulness rigging his frame. Seeing him so angry surprised Annie.

Uncertainty shuddered the group. The addition of Bertholdt made them realize messing with Reiner might not be a good idea. The greasers looked at one another with worry, questioning whether they should go through with their action.

"If it is a fight you want, you can have one," Reiner said. "But you won't be fighting me or my brother. You'll be fighting her."

Annie leaned from behind the uncle twice her size to view the unbelieving teenagers. She looked to her Uncle Reiner to confirm and he nodded. She stepped out from behind her Uncle Bertholdt, her dark fury clear with her expression.

"I'll fight you," she told the greasers. "It will be easy."

"A little girl?" the largest one gapped. He then laughed, his friends joining in, their arrogance returning.

"You will do no such thing!" The man behind Annie insisted. "Reiner, there are _three_ of them! And they have knives!"

"Alright, alright," Reiner agreed. "Annie can fight one of them and then the others; _without_ weapons."

"It is all the same to me," Annie shrugged, appearing apathetic even though the excitement of the fight was bubbling within her. "Who is first?"

The boy with the now stretched-out collar stepped forth, his switchblade tucked back in his pocket. A confident smile highlighted his face, Annie scowling at his naïve boldness.

"Very well," she said, lifting her arms to block her torso and steadying her footing. "Whenever you are ready."

The boy cried in victory as he began to charge, his fist aiming for Annie's stomach. The shot missed easily as she moved. She dipped her body and knocked the greaser's legs from beneath him. The force caused him to flip over himself and land on his back, hard. He released a groan, legs hanging above his head.

"That was too easy." Annie complained, flipping the bangs from her eyes.

The other greasers stared, flabbergasted. A chuckle rumbled from Reiner.

"You better get in there and defend him."

By the time Annie had tossed the others onto their backsides, the first had regained himself. He stood, flinching in pain, anger consuming his features. His neck was flush with either irritation or embarrassment.

"You little _bitch_."

A click sounded as the switchblade appeared again. The boy howled with rage as he ran with the knife, hellish and thoughtless intent keen upon stabbing the little girl before him. Annie took her stance, prepared to cuff the knife from his hold. Yet she could not. Another person dashed before her.

Annie recognized it was her Uncle Bertholdt.

The man plucked the boy's arm from him, twisting it behind his back. The knife fell with a gasp. Bertholdt then slammed the boy into the counter, a crack sounding as his face was crushed into the countertop. Blood bloomed from his nose.

"I don't like people who don't play by the rules."

It was the most beautiful thing Annie had ever seen.

.

"Hold my hand, please."

Connie linked his hand with Sasha's and she in turn used her free hand to hold her mother's. People moved around the hospital in every direction they possibly could and Nifa did not want her children to be swept up in the hustle. A vase of water and tulips hit at her waist, looped around its glass neck by her elbow.

Balto trekked ahead of his family. His large size made a nice lee to the flow of people, nurses and doctors giving the menacing man a wide girth. He asked for the room number at the front desk before moving on.

"Uncle Reiner!"

Sasha and Connie rushed forward into the hospital room, jerking their mother as well. The vase of flowers wobbled and threatened to fall, Nifa's quick reflexes saving it just in time.

"...Uncle Reiner?"

The siblings looked with curiosity around the vacant and disheveled room. Nifa placed the vase on an awkwardly angled and backwards-facing side table, the object looking like it had been pushed from another area of the room. She glanced at her husband in confusion.

A doctor passed by the doorway. Balto was quick to grab his attention and pull him aside.

"Doctor, where is Mister Braun?" he all but demanded.

The doctor, appearing to understand, fixed the glasses. "I'm sorry, he's gone."

Nifa gripped her chest with a gasp. Sasha gained a slack-jawed and wide-eyed look, Connie burying his face in his sister's sleeve. A joyful smirk was smoothed over Balto's face as he cleared his throat.

"How unfortunate... He lived a long life."

"U-Uncle Reiner is dead?" Connie sniffled.

The doctor raised a quizzical brow. "No, he's gone. He left. Mister Braun checked himself out."

The last sentence was said with an agitated stiffness, the doctor leaving with a sweep of his ponytail. Balto's face turned red.

"He _left?_ What do you mean he _left?"_

"Dear..." Nifa said softly, touching her husband's arm. "It's fine. We can see if they are at home."

And so the family packed themselves back into their Buick and drove to the farmhouse.

The children hopped out after the car coasted to a stop, taking to exploring and finding their Uncle Reiner. Nifa shut her car door and looked about, the premise deserted.

"I guess they're not home yet..."

"Reiner just got out of the hospital. I'm sure they're taking it slow and steady on the way home," Balto said with a huff. He followed his wife and ascended the porch stairs.

"What's that?" Connie asked his sister, pointing. He was gesturing to a lone wooden crate residing by the cornfield. The girl looked and cocked her head.

"I don't know. Let's go see!"

They raced to the object. They investigated the crate by circling it a few times, finding very little of interest. Sasha glanced up and saw the fastened latch.

"Look! I think you can open it."

After tugging on the latch for a moment the bolt popped free. Sasha allowed the loose door panel to hit the ground, sending up a blast of dry dust. Inside, a lioness opened one sleeping eye.

"Is that a lion rug?"

"No, silly! It's a stuffed lion."

The girl poked her head inside, getting a better view of the creature. She jumped and hit her head against the top of the crate as the lioness moved, lifting herself to stare at the intruders. She examined them for a moment.

Christa yawned and showed her giant incisors.

The children bolted away, screaming in terror. The lioness stood, stretching, tongue curled as she yawned again. Her golden eyes blinked and found the cornfield. She hesitated. She then walked forward, disappearing into the stalks of corn.

" _Momma!"_ Sasha shrieked, bounding onto the porch with her brother. Nifa whirled around as her children threw themselves against her, sobbing.

"Momma, a lion tried to eat us!" Connie bawled, gripping his mother's dress and crying for her. She tried to rub his head and shush him, not quite understanding why her littlest were so upset. Balto scowled at the scene.

"You two should know better than to make up stories."

"We are not making up stories!" Sasha protested. "There really is a lion!"

The sound of a roaring engine and crackling gravel approached, Reiner and Bertholdt's truck braking hard before the house. A topless convertible soon followed. Three greasers and a small blonde girl could be seen inside. Two of the boys could be heard groaning with misery and seen rubbing their bruised backsides, the final of them holding his head back and pinching his bloody nose. Bertholdt and Reiner exited their truck. Reiner stretched and rubbed his shoulder.

"Oh my lord, what on earth happened?" Nifa gasped and covered her mouth. "There looks like there has been a terrible accident!"

"There was a little trouble," Reiner enlightened her. "But Annie took care of it."

Balto went rigid as one of the greasers opened the door for the girl, Annie stepping out of the passenger's seat unscathed. Bertholdt moved around his relatives on the porch to retrieve stabs of meat from the home. He was oddly calm, given he had just recently slammed someone's face into a countertop so hard it broke their nose and then forced them to beg for Annie's mercy and forgiveness. He lacked the sadness or guilt or pride an act such as what he did usually brought.

"I want to go home!" the boy with the shattered nose whined, the words throaty and gargled. Annie sighed and put a steak on his swollen eye.

"You are in no shape to do that now."

"Momma!" Sasha insisted again. "There _is_ a lion! There really is!"

"Christa?" Annie said, giving another cut of meat to a grateful boy. "I better go feed her. She hasn't eaten all day."

Annie took a few steaks from her Uncle Bertholdt's pile, Reiner nodding absently as he aided one of the boy's in placing his cold cut. Annie held the meat in both arms and walked off to the crate.

"Christa? Who the hell is Christa?" Balto inquired with distaste.

"Annie's lioness," Bertholdt told him, arms now empty.

"A lioness? You got a _lioness?"_ the bloody-nosed greaser asked.

"Yeah, but she's locked up," Reiner said.

"No, she's not!" Sasha persisted. "She tried to eat us!"

"It had _really_ big teeth..." Connie added.

Silence fell. Bertholdt and Reiner looked at one another, horror in their eyes.

"Bertholdt..." Reiner began steadily. "Where is Annie?"

"She... W-Went to feed Christa... Said she hasn't eaten all day..."

A pause.

" _Get the guns!"_

.

"… Christa?"

The crate sat open, barren. Annie dropped her meat and looked inside and around the container, her lion vanished. She stopped and scratched her head.

Rustling came from the cornfield.

"Christa?"

A grizzly muzzle peaked out, amber eyes and round ears quick to follow. Annie sighed, going to the lion hiding in the cornstalks.

"Christa, you should not be out of your crate."

A wildness crossed her eyes. She pounced, limbs outspread.

.

A whirlwind tore out of the house. Sasha and Connie ran to the window, watching the adults with loaded rifles sprint towards the cornfield, their mother and father and uncles and the teenagers alike.

"Wait!"

They all halted at Reiner's order. The lion could be seen in the distance, wrestling, Annie recognizable by her outfit and yellow hair. She appeared to be trying to force the animal off of her.

Balto took all-too-eager aim. Reiner knocked the barrel down before he could cock the rifle, sending the man a dark glare.

"Don't, you'll hit her too."

The man grumbled, his gun pointed downwards. The remainder of the party began to creep towards the pair, rifles raised, faces tense. Nifa was shaking gently.

"Christa, your breath smells terrible," Annie scolded the animal, forcing the lion's mouth away from her. The lioness ignored this and wiggled herself back into licking the girl's face. Her ear's perked as she heard the group approach. Her sharp eyes found the gun-wielding assembly, narrowing as she roared her threat.

The guns cocked.

Sensing danger, the lioness took Annie by the pant leg, dragging her to the safety of the cornfield.

"Christa, what..."

The crowd of rescuers sprang to the edge of the cornfield as the girl descended deeper into the forest of cornstalks, voice trailing off.

"We might be too late..." the largest greaser dreaded. A fierce look crossed Reiner.

"Move in."

The sounds of struggle intensified as they pushed further in. Bertholdt went a shade paler at every outcry he heard, fearing the worst, fearing that his niece was being eaten alive. His face was masked with sweat.

Nifa wanted to faint.

"No, no, _stop!"_ Annie pleaded, a squeal sounding through the corn. Grips upon the rifles tightened as they aimed for the noises of slurps and shrieks.

"Don't-"

" _Go!"_

The party rushed forth. They discovered a ring of crushed cornstalks, the girl and the lioness in the center. The creature was lapping at Annie's hair like a mother cat, giving the girl a tangled cowlick. Her face was scrunched up in disgust.

"You are so _gross_ , Christa."

She opened her eyes and saw the circle of slack jaws and pointed guns. She held the lion's head as she rubbed into the girl's torso, purring, stomach exposed.

"She is feeling a lot better."

" _Jesus!"_ Reiner barked. "You had us worried _sick!_ "

"Annie!" Bertholdt called, rushing to his niece. He looked her over for any injuries, frantic. Annie sighed. The lioness in her lap eyed him suspiciously.

"She's okay..." He breathed, falling back in relief. Balto hid his displeasure while his wife relaxed, the greasers eased as well. Reiner nodded in approval.

"You sure you're okay?" Reiner asked her.

"I am," she assured him. A cattiness held her chin. "Were you worried about me, Uncle Reiner?"

He did not answer. He instead hissed at the absurdity of the notion and turned around, leaving the cornfield.

Annie smirked at his denying flush.

.

Balto's appearance was comparable to a tomato. His round face was bright red along with his neck and ears. His chest was puffed and high, threads of cornfield dander protruding from his thinning hair.

"We're _leaving_ ," he said in a threatening tone. "And we're not coming back until you get rid of that beast."

"Dear, I do not think that is necessary..." his wife argued. "The lion seems fairly tame."

She was ignored by her husband. The man was staring down Reiner, challenging him, daring him to dismiss his family forever. Reiner could not do so more eagerly.

"The lion stays," he said with finality. Balto's shade turned fuchsia.

Annie was attempting to beckon Christa from the cornfield as Nifa and Balto gathered their kids from the house and drove off, Sasha and Connie waving from the windows.

"Come on," Annie urged her cat. "You do not belong in the cornfield. You need to go back in the box."

Christa remained where she was, tail flicking mischievously. She turned and dashed off to hide in the stalks when the girl made a move forward. Annie scowled.

"She won't come out of the cornfield," she told her Uncle Reiner when he came to stand beside her, gun held over his shoulder by a strap.

"She probably thinks she's in a jungle," Reiner said. "Since she's a zoo animal, a cornfield is the closest thing to a jungle she's ever seen. But she knows this is where she belongs. It's in her blood."

A roar sounded and cornstalks rustled, the lioness circling around her new territory. She paused, looking towards Annie. Seeing she was safe, she continued to pace, traveling deeper into the forest of corn.

"I think she's happy," Annie said as she watched Christa go.

Reiner looked down at his niece. "What about you? Are you happy?"

"… Yes. Yes, I'm happy."

.

After Annie had gotten Christa to come and retrieve her dinner of meat, she joined her Uncle Bertholdt on the steps, her Uncle Reiner going to the greasers by their car. The boys were standing in a line, Reiner marching before him, lecturing about this and that. Annie watched this and cocked her head.

"What is he talking to them about?" The girl asked.

Bertholdt took a sip of his iced tea. "He is giving them his 'What Every Boy Needs to Know About Being a Man' speech."

"I see, Annie commented. "Do you think he could give it to me, even though I'm a girl?"

"If you asked him, I suppose. Some of it could benefit you too."

A particularly valid point made the teenagers stiffen. Reiner made sure the boy with the broken nose heard this quite clearly before moving on, his speech continuing. Annie leaned against the railing on the porch.

"You never told me what happened when Uncle Reiner found out Historia was marrying another."

Bertholdt pressed his lips into a thin line. He was hesitant, eyes following his brother's pacing form.

"… If you want to know what happened, you'll have to ask him."

"But Uncle Bertholdt!" Annie complained, almost in a whine. "I can't do that. You know what happened last time."

The man shook his head, staunch. "If you want to know the end of the story, what happened to Historia, you need to ask him."

Annie growled unhappily. She seethed silently as her Uncle Reiner finished his speech, the greasers hopping in their car and leaving with a wave. He climbed up the stairs and sat in his chair, mumbling about his aching back.

"Damn, I feel old," he voiced with abhorrence. He had to ease back into the chair slowly.

"You wouldn't feel old if you did not do such rash things," his brother advised him, sliding a glass of tea his way. "Terrorizing doctors and nurses, fighting teenagers, chasing lions through cornfields..."

"Those boys don't know the first thing about fighting," Reiner groused. "And Annie did all the dirty work anyway. I am probably so useless now that she could take me down."

Annie moved her shoulder to show she had heard. His words troubled her, his bitterness concerning. She saw worry crease her Uncle Bertholdt's features as well.

"I am sure you'll feel better tomorrow," Bertholdt tried to assure him. Reiner waved off his words and, with a little struggling, stood, hand rubbing his back.

"I'm going to bed. Goodnight, Bertholdt; goodnight, Annie."

"Goodnight, Uncle Reiner."

Annie watched him leave, hobbling slightly, his weakness clear to her. The presence of it bothered her, but also showed her that he trusted her, enough to show her the part of himself he hated the most.

Annie wondered what this meant. She observed the condensation running down her uncle's untouched tea glass.


End file.
